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Green Color Mixing Guide - How To Make The Color Green

Seattle, WA

ArtStudioLife.com
©2020 Art Studio Life All Rights Reserved

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 Preface

Copyrighted Material

Table Of Contents

What is a Color Wheel? 6

Color Mixing Shades of Blue Colors 21
Mixing Shades of Yellow 33
How to Mix Shades of Red 39
How to Make the Color Green 47
Mixing Different shades of Orange 65
Mixing the Color Brown 75
How to Mix your Own Shades of Black 87
How to Mix Grey Colors 104
How to Mix Different Shades of Pink 113
An Introduction to Warm and Cool Colors 119
How to Mix Muted Colors are and How to Use Them 129
Color Mixing Cheat Sheets 130-152

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 Preface

There is much more to painting than simply applying pigment to canvas.

Mixing colors is just as important as every other aspect of painting as the
colors you mix up will impact the outcome of your painting. Choosing the
right hues will make your work more dynamic and poignant. 

However, getting to that place of knowing how to mix certain colors can be
hard. Many painters scratch their heads when it comes to mixing color, and
that is where this book comes in. 

When painting you will always encounter new colors that need to be mixed
for a painting. Therefore, a book of color mixing recipes is not suf cient as no
book is big enough to hold every possible color mixture. That is why the aim
of this book is to teach you how color works and how you can arrive at
certain colors and mix up any color you need. 

You will rst nd an overview of color theory and the color wheel which will
help you understand how color works. Then the book will dive into color charts
for all of the major colors. You will also nd cheat sheet color mixing charts at
the very end of the book.

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 Color Wheel for Artists Complete Introduction and Guide

What is a Color Wheel?

The rst color wheel was created by Sir Isaac Newton in 1666 as he was
studying prisms and it has been a useful tool for artists down through the
ages. Many recognize one when they see it; however few really know the
intricacies of a color wheel. By de nition, it is "a circle that illustrates the
relationships between primary colors, secondary colors and tertiary colors." 

The theory behind the color wheel is important

The color wheel itself is a visual representation that is handy to have hanging
on the wall in your art studio but more important than the visual is the
theory behind the color wheel. It is also vital that the artist understands
what the color wheel represents. 

Once you understand the principles behind what the color wheel
represents, it will serve as a great visual reminder.

What you will learn and why it’s important

Here you will learn the basic concepts of the color wheel and how color
works. In addition, I will show you how to apply that knowledge to your
painting. Knowing and understanding the underlying concepts behind the
color wheel can help you grow your color mixing skills!

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 Color Wheel for Artists Complete Introduction and Guide

Introducing the artist color wheel

The artist color wheel above shows 12 colors. Starting from the top going
clockwise the colors are: red, red-orange, orange, yellow-orange, yellow,
yellow-green, green-yellow, green, green-blue, blue, blue-purple, purple, and
pink.

Primary color wheel

Primary colors are the most
important colors in the artist color
wheel. In the primary color wheel
image below you can see how they
form a triangle – yellow, blue and
red.

Primary colors are the most

important because it is from these
three colors that all colors can be
mixed.

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 Color Wheel for Artists Complete Introduction and Guide

However, for a painter to mix all the colors they need from just primary colors
would be quite dif cult – because no tube of paint exists that is a pure form
of blue, red and yellow. All colors contain some traces of other colors as well.
Now, if you mix any two primary colors together you get… secondary colors!

Secondary colors in the color wheel

Secondary colors are orange, green, and purple. As you can see from the
color wheel below, the secondary colors are in between the primary colors.
This is because you get secondary colors by mixing together two primary
colors.

For example, if I mix together the primary colors yellow and red I get orange.
And when mixing primary colors blue + yellow I get green. Last but not least,
when mixing primary colors blue and red I get purple!

Now, for each of these secondary colors there is a complementary color,

which I am covering next.  

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 Color Wheel for Artists Complete Introduction and Guide

Complementary colors within the color wheel

Each of the secondary colors is a complementary color with a primary color –
and the opposite is also true – each of the primary colors is a complementary
color with a secondary color.

When looking at the complementary color wheel above you will see that the
secondary color purple is the complementary color of yellow, and yellow is
the complementary color of purple. Orange is the complementary color of
blue and vice versa. And lastly, green is the complementary color of red, and
red is the complementary color of green.

You will notice that all complementary colors are opposite each other on the
complementary color wheel! So, when looking at a color wheel you can
always know that complementary colors are opposite one another.

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 Color Wheel for Artists Complete Introduction and Guide

Complementary colors in action

When you put two complementary colors next to one another it makes
them stand out more than they would on their own. For example, look at
the image below of the blue square inside the orange square. Both colors
stand out much more than they would if they were by themselves.

Complementary colors blue and orange

The same holds true for the complementary colors green + red and purple +
yellow. Because they are completely opposite, they make each other stand
out more.

Complementary colors green + red

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 Color Wheel for Artists Complete Introduction and Guide

Complementary Colors purple + yellow

So, if you ever want to emphasize something in a painting – use two
complementary colors next to one another.

Mixing complementary colors

Mixing two complementary colors together will mute your color. So, if you
want a muted blue then you would mix some orange to it. The opposite is
also true – mix blue into orange to create a muted orange. The same holds
true for the other complementary colors. Muting a color by mixing it with its
complementary color creates richer colors.

Tertiary Colors in the color wheel

There are still more colors to talk about
with the color wheel! Tertiary colors are
also known as intermediate Colors.
These colors ll in the gaps between the
primary and secondary colors. As you can
see in the tertiary color wheel below.

You can get a tertiary color/ intermediate

color by mixing one primary color with
one secondary color. So, if I mix the
primary color yellow with the secondary
color green I get the tertiary color
yellow-green.

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 Color Wheel for Artists Complete Introduction and Guide

If you are working from life on a painting you will probably not use primary
colors or secondary colors in your piece because they are very bright. Rather,
it is more likely that you would use some softer colors like tertiary/
intermediate colors. Colors are much more natural when they are mixed.

The rule of complements ALSO applies to tertiary colors. Though the effect
tends not to be as dramatic as a primary color mixed with a secondary color.

Notice that the complementary color of each tertiary color is also opposite
from it on the color wheel.

What are analogous colors?

Analogous colors definition
Analogous colors are groups of three colors that are next to each other on
the color wheel. For example, notice in the color wheel below how yellow,
yellow-green and green are all next to one another. Therefore as a group
they are analogous colors.

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 Color Wheel for Artists Complete Introduction and Guide

Analogous Colors examples

Analogous colors are often found in nature and are known to create
harmonious designs that are pleasing to the eye. Below is a close up view of
the analogous colors highlighted in the color wheel.

Extended analogous colors

An extended analogous color palette is a group of more than three
analogous colors. Think of analogous colors as taking a slice of the color
wheel – 3, 4 or at most 5 pieces that are grouped together

Extended Analogous Color Palette

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 Color Wheel for Artists Complete Introduction and Guide

Above is an example of a group of ve analogous colors taken from the color

wheel. You can see that all the colors are related since they are grouped
together.

Analogous Colors in Art

Now we can’t end the conversation about analogous colors without showing
some real life examples from the art world!

Self Portrait, Vincent Van Gogh

This Self Portrait by Vincent Van Gogh is made up of (for the most part) an
analogous palette that has a lot of greens and blues – yellow green, green,
blue green, blue, and purple blue. You can see the extended analogous
palette that Van Gogh used below in his self portrait painting. It is made up
of 5 colors and you can see why the colors in the Van Gogh painting are so
harmonious.

Analogous colors used in Van Gogh self portrait

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 Color Wheel for Artists Complete Introduction and Guide

Complementary colors with an analogous palette

Besides the Van Gogh self portrait having a very analogous palette, it also has
a splash of complementary colors! Van Gogh’s beard and hair are red and
orange which are complementary colors for green and blue.

Having complementary color contrast helps to make a painting more

dynamic as seen in the Van Gogh painting.

Split complementary colors in the color wheel

A split complementary color scheme is a variation of the complementary
color scheme. It uses a color and then the two colors that are adjacent to its
complementary colors.

Example of split complementary colors

For example, in the color wheel below you can see that the split
complementary colors here are purple, orange-yellow, and yellow green.
Orange-yellow and green-yellow are adjacent colors to yellow (the
complementary color of purple).

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 Color Wheel for Artists Complete Introduction and Guide

Examples of complementary color

schemes in art
Where to find the use of the Color wheel in art
You will commonly nd complementary color schemes in art because they
work really well for a painting. All of the followings paintings by Vermeer,
Degas and Cezanne each use a different complementary color scheme.
Keep your eyes peeled next time you head to an art museum – you will be
surprised at how many paintings use a complementary color wheel scheme.

Orange – blue complementary color scheme

Johannes Vermeer, The Astronomer

Vermeer’s painting ‘The Astronomer’ is an excellent example of how an
orange/blue complementary color scheme can work in a painting. Of course,
not ever single area of the painting is either blue or orange. However, the
general overall theme for the colors in the painting are blue and orange.

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 Color Wheel for Artists Complete Introduction and Guide

Having a complementary color scheme in a painting works well because the

colors (orange and blue in this case) make each other stand out more. This in
turn draws the eye of the viewer.

For example, our eyes immediately go to the bright orange trim on the
astronomer’s robe rst because it is set off by being next to its
complementary color blue. Vermeer meant for the gure to be the point of
focus – which works thanks to the complementary colors.

Yellow – purple complementary scheme

Edgar Degas, Dancers Practicing at the Barre

In this Degas painting we see a different kind of complementary color
scheme – yellow and purple. The oor is a muted purple color, while the wall
is yellow (including a yellow bow on the ballerina).

Having these two complementary colors makes the painting more dynamic
by creating an intense color interaction. Our eye rst goes to the area where
the two complementary colors meet – the dancers. Again, you see here how
the artist used complementary colors to guide the eye.

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 Color Wheel for Artists Complete Introduction and Guide

Red – green complementary scheme

Cezanne, Still Life with apples and a tube of paint

Lastly, we have a still life painting by Cezanne. The complementary color
scheme used here is red and green. We have a painting that has a
foreground and background that is mainly made up of green or light green.
The apples range between deep red and orange.

In a complementary color scheme painting one will never have a piece that
is made up of only 2 complementary colors . Rather, there will be a range –
and most likely some other colors mixed in as well.

In the Cezanne still life we can see that the red apples really stand out
against the green foreground and background! This is a great example of
how complementary colors can draw your attention to certain areas of a
painting.

Practical application of the color wheel

Having thorough knowledge of color theory and the color wheel is not
absolutely necessary to become a great artist. However, knowing the basics
of how color works is VERY helpful when it comes to color mixing and
making decisions on a color scheme for a painting.

All of the concepts presented here are the same whether you work in
watercolor, acrylic, oil paints, gouache or any other medium! The rules of
color mixing are universal so you can apply it to anything you do. So, go and
explore the world of color and have fun color mixing. 🙂

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 Color Wheel for Artists Complete Introduction and Guide

Color mixing shades of blue colors

Want to know how to mix different shades of blue colors? Blue is a very
important and one of the most often used colors on the painter’s palette. It
will serve you well to learn how to mix different kinds of blues as it will
immediately expand your color mixing abilities.

There are many different shades of blues – light blues, dark blues, warm
blues, muted blues… the list goes on! Here you will learn exactly how to mix
and achieve different shades of blue.

Blue colors in art

Mixing colors is never as clear cut as following color recipes. The color charts
here act as helpful guidelines to learn how to mix different shades of blue
rather than formulas. Since mixing colors is never as straightforward as
following color formulas I added some paintings at the bottom of this article
with notes on how the colors in the paintings were mixed.

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 Color Wheel for Artists Complete Introduction and Guide

How to mix light shades of blue

You will run into many situations in which you will need to mix different
shades of blue colors that are lighter. Below are charts that show how to mix
different kinds of lighter blue colors using both ultramarine blue and cobalt
blue

You will see here that I used ultramarine blue in the rst two color mixtures
and cobalt blue in the last two color mixtures. To make blue lighter I simply
mixed blue with white. The result is a bright saturated color.

Ultramarine blue and cobalt blue are very bright saturated colors when
mixed with white. Therefore, I show a muted blue by mixing a little bit of
orange with blue. When mixing orange with a lighter blue you get a light
blue that is slightly muted as seen in the second and fourth lines.

When the blue is lightened with white you can more readily notice how
ultramarine blue is warmer (leans toward purple) while cobalt blue is cooler
(leans slightly more towards green). You can observe the difference between
both blue colors in all of the color charts below.

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 How to Mix Shades of Blue Colors

How to make dark shades of blue colors

Blues make excellent dark colors! Ultramarine blue is already a very dark
color, so it is natural to create dark colors with it.

Dioxazine Purple
As seen in the rst line dioxazine purple and ultramarine blue make an
excellent dark color. Not only does dioxazine purple make ultramarine blue
darker but it also adds a little purple shade to it.

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 Thank you for reading the preview of the
Color Mixing Master Guide!

To receive the rest of the Color Mixing Master

Guide in its entirety - purchase
The Color Mixing Master Guide 
https://artstudiolife.teachable.com/p/color-mixing-master-guide

With in depth color mixing guides that cover:  how to mix

colors such as; Yellow, Red, Green, Orange, Purple,
White as well as how to make your own shades of Black
color and more. Including color mixing cheat sheets that
span all of the colors mentioned in this book!

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